hich he
placed the images and other precious relics which he had secured. He also
built a pagoda and houses in which the priests and nuns resided. When
Umako was sick he asked from the emperor that he might avail himself of
the Buddhist ritual. The emperor gave him this privilege, but commanded
him to restrict it to himself.

The Emperor Bitatsu died A.D. 585 at the age of forty-eight. His successor
was Emperor Yomei the thirty-first in order from the Emperor Jimmu. He was
by his mother a descendant of the Soga family and his first wife was also
a daughter of the prime-minister, the Noble Iname who was also of the Soga
family. The bitter hostility between the members of the court who favored
Buddhism and those who opposed it continued. The leader of the former
party was Umako now the prime-minister, while the opponents of Buddhism
were led by Moriya. One of the occasions when their hostility broke out
was when the emperor was taken sick and he wished to try the effect of the
Buddhist Sampo, that is, the three precious elements of Buddhism, Buddha,
the rites of Buddhism, and the Buddhist priests. Moriya and his party
advised against this conformity to Buddhism, but Umako supported him in
his wishes and introduced a Buddhist priest into the palace to attend upon
the emperor. In spite of all this effort, however, the emperor died,
having reigned only three years.

The death of the emperor was the signal for the breaking out of serious
disturbances. Moriya the champion of the old religion was killed and his
party overpowered. From this time Buddhism may be said to have triumphed
in Japan. The thirty-second emperor, Sujun, was crowned A.D. 588. He was
the son of the Emperor Kimmei, and at the time of his accession was
sixty-nine years of age. The communication with Korea continued, and more
and more of the Buddhist culture was introduced. Umako, who now had
undisputed sway in the government, sent out to Korea persons to study the
Buddhist faith, and consecrated many priests and nuns and erected temples
for the new worship.

But everything did not move smoothly. Umako, with all his zeal and
enthusiasm for Buddhism, was suspected of personal ambition, and was
looked upon with distrust. A plot to assassinate the emperor was planned
by Umako, which terminated his life, after a reign of only four years, in
the seventy-third year of his age.

The thirty-third sovereign was the Empress Suiko, who was the sister of
the Emperor Y